• 26Jul 08

  Now THIS is a press conference!

  I'm writing about my most anticipated game in this useless gamespot blog, simply because none of my actual friends could care less about anything I have to say about videogames. Oh well.

  Normally I would say that hands down, Final Fantasy XIII is my most anticipated game, but for a couple reasons, it's starting to fall off the radar. First of all, I'm pretty sure somebody will discover Atlantis before I get my hands on the game. Secondly, I'm getting really sick of recieving absolutely NO info from Square Enix regarding any aspect of the latest installment in their biggest franchise. We already know that the release date won't be announced for a while (and even then, it's bound to get pushed back at least twice), but can't they at least give us a couple of new screenshots or character renderings? There was some new CG footage in the trailer at E3, but really nothing substantial.

  But getting to my point, Final Fantasy XIII is not my most anticipated game. Instead, that accolade goes to Street Fighter 4, which I am now even more excited about then I was when it was first announced. Every video and screenshot I've seen thus far has blown me away, and I must say, when I heard that Street Fighter theme song playing in the background of the latest trailer, I just wanted to jump into the screen and get it on with Chun-Li right there in front of Zangief. That's right baby, spread those massive thighs of yours. I mean seriously, I'm the kind of person who rolls his eyes whenever I hear John Mellencamp on the radio (and this little ditty by Mr. Ashcroft converted me to communism), but watching Guile fire Sonic Booms makes me want to enlist in the army to go kill me some terr'ists. And the icing on the cake was this video from comic-con in San Diego. Ladies and Gentlemen, this is what a video game press conference is supposed to be. That one developer, the Japanese guy in the red hat, looks like he's gonna leap from his chair with excitement. Seriously, the man is just thrilled to be at Comic-Con showing off his game to all of the rabid fans there. And how awesome was it when they showed that development video, and at the part where Ryu pulls off some sort of insane finishing move to beat his opponent the crowd went crazy like they were at a ballgame. Awesome.

  You want to know what the best part of the whole event was? You want to know exactly why comic-con is so much better than E3? The man actually has the audacity to ask the crowd which characters they would like to see in the game. What?! He mentioned that the fans online had voted Cammie as the unnanounced character they'd most like to see (no doubt due to her incredibly revealing outfit), and then he asks who else they want in the game, and says that he's going to offer these suggestions to the development team once he gets back to Japan. That, everybody, is how you build hype for a videogame.

  But instead of that at E3 this year, we had to watch a bunch of Nintendo execs flail around onstage like the The New Kids on the Block with Down Syndrome, Jack Tretton sweat like Bill O'Reilly climaxing during phone sex, and some Nerdy Microsoft guy staring lustfully at Duff after the most out-of-place performance in the history of music.

  • Posted Jul 26, 2008 5:38 pm PT
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• 23Jul 08

  Greatest videogame blog I've ever read

  I woke up at 5AM this morning and couldn't get back to sleep (another instance of my increasingly disturbing and unpredictable sleep patterns), so I hopped on the computer for a bit of adventuring throught the internets. I eventually found the IGN blogs page and came upon one IGN writer's blog that I found to be particularly entertaining and insightful:

  MarkRyan-IGN's Blog

  I really like what he has to say, especially how critical he is... Cynics of the world, unite. I disagree with most of his gripes on MGS4 though I can at least see where he's coming from, but scroll down a bit to find his May 2nd entry on Grand Theft Auto IV. So spot on that I'm convinced I must be this Mark Ryan guy, maybe a second personality a la Jim Carrey in "Me, Myself and Irene". Come to think of it, I was kinda sore this morning...

  • Posted Jul 23, 2008 9:38 am PT
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• 18Jul 08

  Quick E3 impressions

  So E3 is over and here are my thoughts on all of the games and major press conferences.

  Microsoft: If I owned an Xbox 360 I would be thrilled to find out that Final Fantasy XIII is coming to my console. This was a huge announcement for 360 owners, as they will now be getting the next installment of my favorite gaming franchise (which will hopefully be nothing like their last installment). But other than that, there was absolutely nothing presented that would've sparked my interest. At all. Fable 2 and Gears of War 2 seem to be pretty much what I expected them to be (is there a difference between Gears 1 and 2?), and there was nothing new presented for the 360 that I would be even remotely interested in. Lips? You're in the Movies? Not only are these ripoffs of Sony games, but they're ripoffs of boring Sony games. Which brings me to my next point: the avatars and the new dashboard. Wii 2, anyone? The most important thing I learned about this company at E3 was that the guys at Microsoft don't have a single original or creative bone in their bodies. Oh well.

  Nintendo: Nintendo fans, you're company has abandoned you. There wasn't a single game showcased during E3 that would interest most longtime Nintendo fans (except maybe Animal Crossing. Maybe). I really don't know what else to say, but Reggie and Cammie looked ridiculous up on that stage pretending like Shaun White Snowboarding and Wii Sports Resort are remotely exciting. And from what we've heard from the floor, Wii Music isn't looking too good either. Oh yeah, that's why I sold my Wii. And you know what the worst part is? They continually demonstrate a severe lack of understanding with what non-casual Wii owners want. When asked what he would say to "hardcore" gamers who were disappointed by Nintendo's press conference, he slapped everyone in the face with this response: "How could you feel left out? The Animal Crossing that we've been hearing about that people wanted. Fully connected to the internet, go to other people's towns. Plus, as I said, Grand Theft Auto on the DS. How do you feel left out with those types of announcements?" Do I really have to answer that?

  Sony: Easily the best of a pretty shallow group. They didn't pull out any surprises (certainly nothing to match the FFXIII bombshell by Microsoft) but they showed off the the greatest number of exclusive games... That look good. The God of War 3 announcement wasn't exactly surprising, but it's still big, and games like Resistance 2 (that leviathan trailer looked sweet) and Killzone 2 look like they're coming along really well. LittleBigPlanet gets my vote for game of the show, because in less than a week I've gone from "looks okay, I guess" to "I can't wait to play it". Here's what it all comes down to: which console features the best upcoming exclusives? Obviously it's all opinionated, but I don't see how you could go against this list:

  • Resistance 2
  • Killzone 2
  • LittleBigPlanet
  • Motorstorm 2
  • Valkyria Chronicles
  • InFamous
  • Final Fantasy Versus XIII
  • God of War 3
  • MAG
  • White Knight Chronicles
  • DC Universe Online
  • Socom: Confrontation

  That's just off the top of my head, and I expect that we'll hear more news in the upcoming months. Square Enix teased us earlier in the week by revealing that a "massive" announcement regarding Final Fantasy VII is on the way, and there are sure to be a lot of exciting announcements from the Tokyo Game Show (which will almost exclusively focus on Sony and Nintendo, since the Xbox 360 has sold a grand total of 4 consoles in Japan). In my opinion, Sony had the best show this year (and notice how I didn't say that they "won", as I don't see how a company can "win" E3).

  • Posted Jul 18, 2008 5:07 pm PT
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